Bell Tower, photo by Carl ThorWelcome!

Welcome to the Talisman Music website. Here you will find musician and teacher Carl Thor, Celtinalia, Hands4/Stepwise, and Bandwidth. We also for a decade hosted the web site for Vancouver's monthly 2nd Friday contra dance, Contra in the Couve! which, sadly, is no longer happening.

Featured events

See our Calendar for all our events.

Find us online

Listen

With so much work out in the world cancelled, we've had more time to devote to composition, recording, and publishing, and we have launched a Talisman Music Facebook page, where we will announce new events and projects. Check us out at: facebook.com/TalismanMusicWA

The CDBaby Store for purchasing physical CDs and digital downloads has shut down, and we're in the process of adjusting to that loss. You may still find some dead-end links to the CDBaby store throughout this website, but we'll be correcting those as we continue our migration to BandCamp.
And, of course, you can always find CDs and other products in our Web Store.

No Caravan of Despair, music by Carl Thor and the Talisman Digital Symphony Orchestra, is now available for download. Lush and exotic, this four part suite evokes images of desert caravans and celebrations under the starlit sky. Find it at our BandCamp site.
Here's a sample.

See video of Celtinalia playing the great Irish tune, “Banish Misfortune” — our blessing for these troubled times.

See video of Hands4 playing “A Happy March for David” — written in 2020 by Carl Thor and dedicated to our now-departed friend, David Kaynor.

See video of Celtinalia performing “Crossing the Bar” at the Northwest Folklife Festival, 5/26/19. Poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson set to music by Rani Arbo.

I was honored to play hammered dulcimer for a recording of “I Wonder As I Wander” by the Chor Leoni Men's Choir, directed by Erick Lichte.
Listen here: https://youtu.be/iCxnMik0W7o and find their albums here.

Learn

I offer private lessons on hammered dulcimer and piano in Portland or Vancouver, and occasional dulcimer workshops in Portland and the Willamette Valley. Most teaching is still remote, over Zoom, due to COVID, but I am beginning to see students on site in Vancouver. See Lessons or Contact us for more info.

Dance

We had a contra dance in Vancouver, WA from 2010 until 2020. Sadly, with COVID-19, the closure of the Hazel Dell Grange and various other factors, Contra in the Couve! is now history. It was great fun while it lasted. Many thanks to all the dancers, volunteers, musicians, and callers who came out to support our dance.

Featured Products in our Web Store

Deep Peace


Dulcimer News

Spring Dulcimer Rendezvous

Registration is now open for the 2024 Hammered Dulcimer Rendezvous, to be held May 16-19 at Oral Hull Park just outside of Sandy, OR. Visit nwdulcimer.com for more information.


Services offered by Talisman Music

Live Music

Recordings, Published Music and Other Products,
available through our Web Store

Composition and Arranging

Education


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